Educational Program
Pre- and Post-Visit Activities
Pamplin Historical Park
& The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier
www.pamplinpark.org
PAMPLIN HISTORICAL PARK
“DUTY CALLED ME HERE”
AUDIO TOUR ON THE COMMON SOLDIER
A Guide to the Discovery Program: Meet Delevan Miller, Drummer Boy
This Discovery Program study guide identifies the essential teaching point for
each room of the “Duty Called Me Here” exhibit. Teachers can have their students
study and discuss the teaching points before their visit. Students also may bring
their study guides to the museum and review them as they tour the gallery. The
questions following each teaching point can be answered by close attention to the
exhibits.
MEET DELEVAN MILLER
Delevan Miller joined the army when he was 13 years old and became a drummer
boy for a New York artillery regiment. His father, Sergeant Loten Miller, was in the
same unit. If you want Delavan to be your comrade as you tour the museum you
should follow the DISCOVERY PROGRAM (the yellow circles).
Did Delevan Miller survive the war?
FIRST ROOM — INTRODUCTION: JOINING UP
Across the country, young men rushed to become soldiers. Some joined the Union
Army, representing the Northern states. Others joined the Confederate Army of
the South. Both sides believed they were fighting for freedom, as the patriots did
during the American Revolution.
Question: Where were the first shots of the Civil War fired?
(Find the answer in the introduction to the room.)
SECOND ROOM — A SOLDIER’S LIFE
When men joined the army, they were sent to camps where they learned how to be
soldiers. Most of their comrades were from their home town or county. There were
new routines, new temptations, and new dangers in camp. Their training included
loading and firing weapons, battlefield tactics, and military discipline.
Question: What was camp life like for new recruits?
(Find the answer by listening to Yellow Circle 3)
THIRD ROOM — ON THE MARCH
After weeks of training, the army left the camp and moved to meet the enemy.
The army was made up of large numbers of men and there were many challenges
to reaching the battlefield. Life on the march was hard. Civil War soldiers had
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to march long distances over poor roads in all kinds of weather. Early in the war,
soldiers were out of shape and were not accustomed to walking long distances.
They became much better marchers as the war continued and could easily cover as
many as thirty miles a day.
Question: What were the three main combat branches of the army and how
were they different?
(Find the answer by listening to Yellow Circle 10 and look at the wall displays)
FOURTH ROOM — TRIAL BY FIRE
The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history. Officers, trained in earlier
wars, led the men into battle. Their tactics were designed for the old-fashioned
smoothbore musket. However, the Civil War soldier had a new technology called
the rifle musket. These weapons were five times more accurate than the older
muskets. Attacking soldiers experienced volley after volley of deadly fire.
Question: How was the rifle musket different from the old smoothbore
musket?
(Find the answer by listening to the introduction to the room.)
FIFTH ROOM — A SOLDIER’S FATE
Most Civil War soldiers survived battle. Those who were not that lucky met one of
three fates: 1) killed or mortally wounded, 2) wounded, or 3) taken prisoner by the
enemy. Many men feared their families would not know where they died and were
buried. Some soldiers bought identification tags from sutlers, while others pinned
small pieces of paper with their names inside their jackets so their bodies could be
identified after the battle.
Question: Civil War doctors could have saved the lives of many wounded
soldiers if they had known about _____________________________ .
(Find the answer by listening to Yellow Circle 15.)
SIXTH ROOM — SURVIVING IN THE FIELD
Military campaigns and battles usually stopped during the winter because the
dirt roads were muddy from rain or snow and the armies could not travel. But the
soldiers could not go home for the winter and return when the spring sun dried the
roads. They spent the winter in camps where they suffered from boredom and low
morale.
Question: At the Sutler’s store, name three things that soldiers used that
you might also use. Then name three things that you would NOT use.
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SEVENTH ROOM — A TEST OF FAITH
The Civil War soldier faced awful hardships and many dangers. Why did he stay
with the army and suffer? If he stayed because of duty to his country, what about
his duty to be with his family? If it was loyalty to his army comrades that kept
him there, could he trust the new recruits, draftees, and substitutes the army was
sending to join him? Was the War still his cause – was it still his responsibility? As
the war dragged on, the soldier faced a test of faith. Some stayed and continued the
fight, others went home.
Question: 180,000 African Americans served as Civil War soldiers.
Which side did they serve on?
(Find the answer by listening to Yellow Circle 23.)
Question: Did Delevan Miller survive the war?
(Find the answer by listening to Yellow Circle Number 22)
VOCABULARY WORDS
Amputate: To cut off (an arm, leg, etc.) usually by surgery.
Campaign: A series of military operations with a particular objective in a war.
Comrade: A friend or close companion.
Earthwork: A protective wall of dirt and logs.
Hardtack: A hard bread/cracker given to soldiers to eat.
Morale: Willingness to endure hardship, etc. within a group.
Mortal wound: An injury that will result in death.
Rifle musket: A muzzle-loading shoulder arm, with spiral grooves on the inside
of the barrel, to cause the bullet to spin.
Substitute: A person who took the place of someone who did not want to be in
the army.
Sutler: A merchant who traveled with the army selling soldiers items they needed.
Tactics: The art of moving soldiers on the field of battle to achieve victory.
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“What’s In It For Me?” – Learn Why the Soldiers Fought
A Pre-Visit Activity for the Duty Called Me Here Program
Many Civil War soldiers went to war because they believed in a cause. The
Confederate Cause was different from the Union Cause, and the typical Confederate
soldier fought for a different reason than the typical Union soldier. Here are the
opinions of four soldiers who are comrades in the “Duty Called Me Here” exhibit.
Union Commissary Sergeant Alexander H. Newton, an African American soldier —
“…We said that we would honor Old Glory, obey God, and contend for our prize
– Liberty … until the sound of clanking slave chains shall be heard no more in the
length and breadth of this fair and goodly land. My great desire was to get into
contact with the Southern forces that we might be working out the decision of this
great problem.… This was not a personal matter, but a question of national issue,
involving the welfare of millions, and my soul was on fire for the question: Slavery
or No Slavery?”
Union Corporal Elisha Stockwell, Jr. — “… I promised to re-enlist. We were to
get three hundred dollars and a thirty-day furlough …. The furlough was the big
inducement.… One day … sitting by the stove … a man came in, … and sat by me.
He asked me if I knew what I was fighting for. I told him that I didn’t care to talk
politics…. He told me how the South was being abused, that we never could whip
them, and finally said he would bet I couldn’t tell him what I was fighting for.”
Confederate Sergeant William Bull — “ … My first object, as a soldier, is to
serve my country to the best of my ability. My second is to have as easy a time as
possible. … We are in camp here and expect to remain for some time. Have no
fears for the success of the South. She will be free. I never have, for one moment,
regretted having come here, and am now, as I always have been, determined to
remain until that which I come to assist in accomplishing has been accomplished.”
Confederate Private Henry Robinson Berkeley — “I have tried to act as I think
for the best interests of my country and my family. These people cannot take from
us our liberty without destroying their own. They pretend to make war on us to
save the Union – but is a Union pinned together by bayonets worth saving? I think
certainly not. We are very near hopeless, and it is not wise for the United States
government to render us desperate.”
QUESTIONS/ACTIVITIES
1. What cause was Sergeant Newton, the African-American soldier, fighting for?
2. Why do you think Corporal Stockwell was in the Army?
3. What is the country Sergeant Bull talks about? What does he mean by
“She will be Free?”
4. Private Berkley refers to “liberty.” What does he mean by this?
5. The two Confederate soldiers believed they were fighting for an important right.
What was that right? What did this right mean to them?
6. Imagine you were a Union or a Confederate soldier and write a paragraph
explaining why you are in the army.
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“To Grow or Not To Grow, That is the Question” —
Learn About Tobacco
A Pre-Visit Activity for the Plantation Life Program
Tobacco was Virginia’s primary cash crop before the Civil War. However, tobacco
drained the soil of much needed nutrients, so planters had to own a lot of land to
grow tobacco. They could also switch to other crops such as wheat, or start new
plantations in other locations when their soil was worn out. Tobacco production was
labor intensive. This meant that the plants required a lot of attention, and a planter
needed many workers if he wanted to grow enough tobacco to be wealthy. Forty
laborers were needed to grow 100 acres of tobacco. One acre of land could yield as
much as 1,000 pounds of tobacco. The price of one pound of cured tobacco in 1860
was about 8 cents.
Some believed that other cash crops, like wheat, were better choices for Virginia
planters. Wheat production was less labor intensive. Once planted, the farmer
only had to keep farm animals away from the fields until harvest time. Only four
laborers were needed to grow 100 acres of wheat. One acre of land could yield as
much as 30 bushels of wheat. The price of one bushel of wheat in 1860 was about
$1.40.
Thomas Jefferson made the following remarks about tobacco — “It is a culture
productive of infinite wretchedness. Those employed in it are in a continued state
of exertion beyond the powers of nature to support. Little food of any kind is raised
by them: so that the men and animals on these farms are badly fed, and the earth is
rapidly impoverished. The cultivation of wheat is the reverse in every circumstance.
Besides clothing the earth with herbage, and preserving its fertility, it feeds the
labourers plentifully, requires from them only a moderate toil, except in the season
of harvest, raises great numbers of animals for food and service, and diffuses plenty
and happiness among the whole.”
William Boisseau of Tudor Hall Plantation grew tobacco in the 1830s. He had 51 slaves.
In 1860 his son, Joseph, grew wheat instead of tobacco. Joseph had only 18 slaves.
OUESTIONS
1. What does “labor intensive” mean?
2. What did Thomas Jefferson mean when he said that growing tobacco leaves the
earth “rapidly impoverished”?
3. Who did Virginia’s large plantation owners rely on to produce their tobacco?
4. How many laborers would a planter need in order to cultivate 400 acres of
tobacco? Of wheat?
5. How much money could you make from 200 acres of tobacco in 1860? From 200
acres of wheat?
6. Why did William Boisseau need so many more slaves than his son Joseph
needed?
7. If you were a planter with 200 acres of land for crop production, which would
you choose to cultivate, tobacco or wheat? What were the advantages and
disadvantages of each?
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“A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words” —
Learn From Civil War Drawings
A Post-Visit Activity for the Soldier’s Life Program
The Petersburg Campaign of the Civil War lasted almost ten months and the
soldiers in the earthworks were bored much of the time. However, there were
fierce battles and moments of utter terror. The picture below shows soldiers in the
Petersburg earthworks.
QUESTIONS/ACTIVITIES
1. What are the soldiers doing to tease the enemy?
2. Are enemy soldiers shooting at these soldiers? How can you tell?
3. Do you think these are new soldiers who haven’t experienced much fighting, or
soldiers who have had a lot of experience? Do you think they look like they are
afraid? How would you feel if you were there?
4. Do you think these soldiers feel like they were all on the same team and depend
on each other? When have you ever felt that way?
5. Imagine you are a Civil War soldier at the earthworks. Write a letter home
telling your family about it.
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“Dusty Books Tell It All” – Learn about Plantation life
A Post-Visit Activity for the Plantation Life Program
Estate inventories help us understand how people lived in the past. They were
prepared when a person died so that taxes could be collected on his property and his
property could be divided among his survivors. The items listed below appeared on
the 1838 inventory for Tudor Hall Plantation.
SLAVES – “Eighteen Negro men slaves, namely Bob, Daniel, Stewart, Sam,
Charles, Thomas … Sixteen Negro women slaves, namely Sally, Minny, Rachelle,
Charlotte, Catey, Marion, Celia …; Seventeen boys and girls, namely Henry, Tilman,
David, George, Cornelius ….”
ANIMALS – “Nine horses, fifty five cows, calves, and oxen, fifteen sheep, Sixty
Sows, pigs, and shoats. Three hundred Turkies, ducks, chickens, and Geese.”
MEAT AND CROPS – “Three thousand pounds of Bacon, beef, and lard – Two
hundred barrels of corn – Twenty thousand pounds of fodder and sheave oats,
twelve thousand pounds of tobacco.”
TOOLS – “One Carriage and harness, Two Waggons and gear, Two ox carts
– Sixteen Ploughs and sixteen plow hoes – thirty weeding hoes – ten grubing hoes
-- ten Axes.”
HOUSEHOLD AND KITCHEN ITEMS – “Eight beds and furniture – one crib
– one cradle – Two dozen chairs – Six tables – One dozen table cloths – five mirrors
-- One clock – five Candlesticks – dozen silver Table spoons and dozen silver Tea
spoons – dozen and a half of knives and forks – Two dozen wine glasses – dozen milk
cans – one glass bowl – one celery stand -- four pitchers – butter stand and silver
butter knife – coffee pot – Sugar dish and cream pot – tea kettle . Two brass kettles
– one iron kettle – four iron pots --Two ovens – frying pan and stew pot – Two tin
coffee pots and coffee boiler -- forty jugs and butter pots – parcel of old tubs and
Barrels – one clock reel – one loom – six spinning wheels and six pair of cards – Two
Tin buckets and seven Tin shapes, and Two pewter basins – one Tin safe – one fast
Stove – Two Tin barrels – Two churns – one hundred pounds of soap, three sets of
window curtains and one set of bed curtains – one saddle and bridle – – one set of
candle molds.”
QUESTIONS
1. How many slaves lived at Tudor Hall?
2. What animals were raised for making cloth for clothes? What household items
were used to make cloth?
3. What animals were raised for food? What kind of meat was already stored away
ready to eat? Why were there so many animals and so much meat stored away?
4. What was Tudor Hall’s cash crop (crop to sell rather than to be used by the
people living at the plantation)?
5. Could the plantation raise food for its animals? What were some animal foods?
6. What household items suggest that the Master’s family was rich?
7. Identify at least three household items on this inventory that you would not find
in a modern house.
8. Write a story describing life on a plantation using the information above.
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